E-Z Hypertext linking trick:

[url= http://link]Headline[ /url]

1. Copy & Paste (or type) the above line

2. Remove the spaces

3. Trade "http://link" with the actual url of the item

4. Replace "Headline" with the headline or your own text

5. Feel good inside for sharing the info with us!

Digital Music At The Crossroads --Forbes

" If they can't buy it, they'll get their music elsewhere on the file-sharing networks. Apple in particular has started working on ways to make its music offerings available to teens through the use of gift cards. Make it easy to buy and easy for parents to keep some control of how much they spend and on what kind of music, and the file-sharing networks will start to wane further.

But music files circulating on the file-sharing networks will never go away entirely, and that may not necessarily be a bad thing. In 2002, more than 70% of consumers said they used file-sharing networks to sample music prior to purchase, and that is likely a big motivator today. I think a diminished music-trading underground will continue to thrive in part because the music industry can use it as a marketing tool.

The trend in music also bodes well for video. File-sharers have been trading movies and TV shows via software programs like BitTorrent for some time now. I'm eager to see if TV broadcasters and movie studios can learn from the experiences of their media cousins."

Sony BMG Gets Into File-sharing --Media Center PC World

"The headline isn't quite what it seems. Sony isn't about to start sanctionning the sharing of their copyrighted material, but they have signed a deal with P2P network Mashboxx that will see Sony BMG content available, for a fee, on the network."

US music industry hammers file-sharers - (another *yawn* story about the regularly schedualed end of the month lawsuit frenzy) --AFP

Podcast popularity is boon for Audible - analyst --Macworld UK

"Analysts at Piper Jaffray expect Audible to benefit from Apple's move to include podcasting facilities on the iPod and in iTunes."

Slyck reports: MPA Shuts Down Pirate Movie Website

Here is the press release from the MPAA, but WARNING! It is a .doc file. (Do you really want to open an executable file from the MPAA?)

AMC theaters' 'Cinderella' guarantee - Don't like the movie? You'll get your money back --Reuters/CNN

Ruckus to Allow Students to Legally Share Music; Becomes First Campus Entertainment Network to Support Legal Music Sharing

It's probably not worth posting the following spiel, (since it is essentially just an ADVERTISEMENT...)

...but WTF, here it is anyway:

HERNDON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 29, 2005--Ruckus today introduced legal music sharing, a way for Ruckus users to legally find and download music on other Ruckus users' computers. By introducing legal music sharing, Ruckus becomes the first college-only digital media service to allow LEGAL peer-to-peer swapping of a music library.

"Ruckus is excited to offer legal music sharing, an improvement to the traditional P2P experience for students," said William Raduchel, Chairman and CEO of Ruckus. "The application enables users to find and download virus free tracks from Ruckus on their friends' and classmates' computers at incredible speeds. What we're really doing is allowing students to find friends through media, and media through friends, using Ruckus' powerful social media application. The Ruckus music sharing application also protects students from legal liability."

The introduction of legal music sharing will allow students on participating campuses to search - with permission - the playlists and file libraries of other students on their own subnet, and download the files to their own computers. Libraries of thousands of songs can be downloaded in minutes. This new addition marks the beginning of an improved, legal peer-to-peer file sharing on college campuses.

"Ruckus has worked very hard to provide students a forum in which to legally access and share their music, while ensuring that the intellectual property of artists is protected," said IMF: International Music Feed President and Ruckus advisor Andy Schuon. "Ruckus knows that to thrive in the college market, it must keep its finger on the pulse of the campus community, and providing a legal, flexible and fast P2P option goes a long way towards meeting students' digital media needs."

Given that unlicensed digital music downloading on college campuses continues to draw the attention of both the RIAA and MPAA, and creates significant legal liability for students, Ruckus' innovation of legal music sharing is particularly relevant. For less than the cost of a CD for the entire semester, students can take advantage of Ruckus' giant subscription music and movie offering, as well as participate in their powerful social media applications. Ruckus enables students to express themselves through their media and find friends and classmates, who share their music, movie and social interests.

About Ruckus

Ruckus provides the most comprehensive digital media services available for colleges today. The Ruckus service offers movies, music, TV, community-building tools, original content and a self-publishing application. With this rich array of features, Ruckus helps unite campuses through common interests. Unlike some other digital media services, Ruckus is dedicated to the college market and works hard to design a digital media package specifically for each campus. Today, the Ruckus service is enjoyed by thousands of U.S. college students and is quickly becoming the brand of choice for higher education institutions nationwide. For more information, please visit www.ruckus.com.

http://p2pnet.net/story/4052#comments

You MUST NOT forget this. Those FASCIST THUGS in the RIAA are trying to obtan the police state like warrentless searches back!!! They are appealing on the basis that the statue was misread!! We must be aware of this and ensure they don't get Orwellian like powers back that they were using from 2 years ago all the way to December 2003, when they lost to Verizon!!

Does anyone know what are the odds of those FASCISTS winning the appela based on the statue being misread?? Please tell me they are slim to none!!

We the people have to be aware and not let them get those police state like warrentless searches of ISPs back!!

Heck, is some ISP trying to fight the appeal?? It doens't say anything like that. All the more reason to be considered that those RIAA FASCIST manipulative lawyers could convince the judge that the statue was misread. It's chilling!! So everyone better pay attention and be well aware!!!

Prideful-Chris, I am fairly confident they will loose again.

Since Monday, I'm less confident that they will lose again.
In the wake of the Supreme Court's Grokster ruling with regard to the concept of inducement ('vicarious infringement' they called it), perhaps the RIAA's cause has been strengthened in pursuing their appeal over the issue that Prideful is concerned about.

I agree that some spooky sh*t was handed down from SCOTUS on monday, but the MGM v Grokster 9-0 (when you think about it, "grok" it) was actually more in FAVOR of our side, nevermind the "spin" that was spun by the MEDIA.

Well, how confident were all of us that the RIAA would win the appeal against Grokster??

I mean, civil liberties groups, ISPs, and such had better file a court of the brief stating that the statue was not misread. Also, start and/or get ready for a connstitutional challenge of the privacy invading provison of the DMCA, just in case they do win.

How do you look at the Grokster deciison as a vitory for us. How is anything a victory for us if those FASCIST fatcats in the RIAA are claiming it a huge victory for them?? Why was there such a big fuss on Monday that this news was not good news?? Is the answer lie in that the decision may not be as bad as we thought??

Back to the other case. I mean, this is about our privacy and due process rights at stake here. When they lost the appeal to Version, I was so relieved. But I was a little worried they would win the appeal against Charter and the second one with Verizon. When they had lost the final appeal with both of them, I thought that was it, and I was relieved. But no, they are trying again. How many more appeals are they going to get?? I mean, it's chilling.

If the original judge who granted them that authority in April 2003 made it legal for them to do that, who's to say another judge won't read the statue the same way the original judge did in April 2003, which granted them those warrentless police state privacy invading searches. Those FASCIST thugs are attempting everything.

While the Grokster case gets all of the media's attention, those FASCIST RIAA thugs for all we know may have a better chance at quietly trying to win the appeal and gain the police state searches of ISPs back!!

What makes you so confident they are just going to dead out loose if very few in the the IT industry working to protect our rights are aware of it??

I mean think about it, it really scares me, and WE MUST REFUSE to let them stand any chance at the rampant police state like privacy invading campaign again!!!

Lets just put it this way. It sounds like the whole ruling regarding the FASCIST police state like DMCA subpoenaes is in a legal tangle and there may be more cases and points in this ruling. If the RIAA did indeed get it overturned, could Verizon or Charter appeal the ruling on a different grounds to get it overturned again, and while the appeal took place, any use of the FASCIST like subpoenaes for the RIAA wouldn't be able to be used yet, unless they won multiple rulings???

I mean, it's just scary and we must be aware and make sure they don't win this ruling!!!

I found this article
[url = http://www.ecommercetimes.com/rsstory/44305.html]RIAA Slaps Hundreds of P2P File Sharers with Lawsuits [/url]

RIAA Slaps Hundreds of P2P File Sharers with Lawsuits

By Keith Regan
E-Commerce Times
06/30/05 10:14 AM PT

The new batch of 785 suits are part of a lengthy and controversial campaign by the RIAA and more recently its movie counterpart, the Motion Picture Association of America, to sue individuals they believe are receiving or sharing copyrighted material without paying for it.


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Hard on the heels of a partial victory for music and movie studios before the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this week, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has continued to pressure consumers who it says illegally swap music, filing a new batch of more than 700 copyright infringement lawsuits.

The lawsuits come just three days after the Supreme Court handed copyright holders a victory by ruling in MGM vs. Grokster that peer-to-peer, or P2P, networks can be sued if they intend to have their technology used for illegal file-sharing.

However, the new batch of 785 suits do not rely on that ruling, instead are part of a lengthy and controversial campaign by the RIAA and more recently its movie counterpart, the Motion Picture Association of America , to sue individuals they believe are receiving or sharing copyrighted material without paying for it.


Ongoing Effort to Educate
The decision to file more lawsuits might be a recognition by the entertainment industry that it faces a high burden of proof against the P2P firms themselves. The Supreme Court ruling said that studios can only prevail in suits against those firms if it can be proved that they induced users to steal music or movies with their technology.

Separately, law enforcement officials in the U.S. and Europe announced they had made a major a number of arrests and seized computer equipment in an unrelated move on illegal file sharing and copyright violations.

In a statement, the RIAA said its suits were part of an ongoing effort to "educate fans about the right and wrong way to enjoy digital music." The suits were filed in numerous jurisdictions, including Washington, D.C., California, New York and Pennsylvania, and all are against so-called "John Does," or unnamed defendants.

Those sued were said to be users of several P2P networks, including KaZaa, LimeWire and Grokster.

"On Monday, the Supreme Court provided a real shot in the arm to legitimate online music services and unanimously injected moral clarity into this debate," RIAA Chairman and CEO Mitch Bainwol said. "If there was any doubt left, there should now be none -- individuals who download music without permission are breaking the law. Our efforts to defend the rights of record labels, musicians, songwriters and others in the music community from theft will certainly continue and likely be strengthened in the weeks and months ahead."

Clear as Mud
Not all observers see the Supreme Court's ruling in such clear terms, however. The P2P industry, in fact, declared partial victory for itself by noting that the court did not overturn or erode the landmark 1984 Sony (NYSE: SNE) Betamax ruling, which held that technology with legitimate uses was legal even if users ended up finding illicit uses for it.

The RIAA positioned its suits as just one part of a larger campaign being waged by Music United to educate the public, especially parents of teens -- by far the heaviest users of P2P to swap songs.

The push will be backed with an advertising campaign urging the purchasing of music, with the tagline of "Feed a Musician, Download Legally" displayed on posters at subway stops and similar spots in 11 U.S. cities.

Depending upon an observer's point of view, the campaign represents either a revived RIAA, one that received a welcome shot in the arm from the Supreme Court ruling, or one that is more desperate than ever to stem file-sharing in the face of the networks it takes place on and the users who do it becoming increasingly sophisticated.

Analysts say the industry is unlikely to abandon its strategy of lawsuits any time soon, primarily because they have been effective at helping to decrease illegal swapping. And they might in fact make more sense now than ever since there are now a range of legitimate alternatives that users can turn to for legal downloads.

Desired Effect?
In the past, the RIAA has typically settled copyright infringement suits for about US$5,000, a strong deterrent, especially for certain Web users, according to research conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

"There is evidence that people who have never downloaded are deterred from starting," Pew research specialist Mary Madden told the E-Commerce Times. Sixty percent of such individuals have said the lawsuits would keep them from ever attempting questionable downloading of music and a third of all past downloaders have stopped the practice because of the suit.

A. Blair Hughes, an attorney with McDonnell Boehnen, Hublert & Berghoff in Chicago, said the difficulty of proving the "intent to induce" standard set out by the court in the Grokster ruling might put users in the legal crosshairs for some time to come.

"The next hurdle the industry faces in view of the Grokster decision may be insurmountable," Hughes said. The only recourse left to the big movie studios and recording companies will be to sue individuals who are using the file-sharing software illegally -- an immense and costly undertaking."

let me just say this and it will probably be my mantra for the rest of the year , The content cartels will sue themselves out of existence because the so called paid for music sites suck they come no where near the power of p2p and the only education kids are getting is the content cartel cares for no one but themselves and the almighty dollar.

Stores sell more DVDs than CDs
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=401837&in_page_id=2

SALES of DVDs have soared by almost a third in the past year, outstripping CDs at leading music stores for the first time.

HMV, which once prided itself on being 'top dog for music', has just reported that DVDs now make up 44.3% of all sales at its 208 British stores.

At the same time CD sales have dropped to 43.9% as the emphasis changes from music to movies.

The fall in music sales has been blamed on the increasing number of outlets selling songs and albums, from supermarkets to Internet download sites such as iTunes.

While a record number of albums were sold in the UK last year, shoppers have been deserting traditional music stores to download chart CDs for prices starting from £7.99

HMV chief executive Alan Giles said: 'DVD growth has been extraordinary and will be larger than music this year. It is the most rapidly adopted new entertainment format of all time.'

DVDs have soared in popularity since the cost of players plunged to as little as £25. The average price of the discs has also dropped, from £17 in 2003 to just under £15, and is due to come down still further because of an increasingly competitive market.

Sales of DVDs have also gone up since electrical stores such as Dixons began phasing out the video cassette recorder after more than a quarter of a century to concentrate on its successor, DVD players and recorders.

HMV spokesman Paul Barker said: 'The decline of the VHS is an important factor as people have started transferring from video to DVD. Just over 60% of households in the UK now have DVD players - up from about 45% in 2003. That should rise to 70% by the end of the year. Once customers have invested in the hardware, they want decent quality software to match.

'DVDs and their players are now incredibly affordable. We think music sales have come down as a result because consumers have only so much to spend on home entertainment.'

The growing popularity of DVDs was thought to be a factor in the group's 13.5% increase in pre-tax profits to £134m last year.

Retailer Woolworths, where CDs and DVDs make up a quarter of all sales, says it is making room for movies and cutting down on space for music. Sales of DVDs outstripped those of CDs by 28% in its 827 stores last year. A spokesman said: 'In terms of growth, DVD sales have been phenomenal and far greater than music.'

Matt Phillips, of the British Phonographic Industry, the music industry trade body, said a record 163.4m albums were sold in the UK last year. He added: 'DVDs are a relatively new format whereas the CD is now fairly mature.

'However, the UK music market is still very strong thanks to a rise in the number of alternative outlets such as supermarkets and the internet.'

BitTorrent next in P2P firing line
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,15787486%5E15306%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html

Someone talking sense for a change.
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?story_id=4128994

Extract.

"The Supreme Court tried to steer a middle path between these claims, and did a reasonable job. But the outcome of the case is nevertheless unsatisfactory. That's not the court's fault. It was struggling to apply a copyright law which has grown worse than anachronistic in the digital age. That's something Congress needs to remedy.

In America, the length of copyright protection has increased enormously over the past century, from around 28 years to as much as 95 years. The same trend can be seen in other countries. In June Britain signalled that it may extend its copyright term from 50 years to around 90 years.

This makes no sense. Copyright was originally intended to encourage publication by granting publishers a temporary monopoly on works so they could earn a return on their investment. But the internet and new digital technologies have made the publication and distribution of works much easier and cheaper. Publishers should therefore need fewer, not more, property rights to protect their investment. Technology has tipped the balance in favour of the public domain.

A first, useful step would be a drastic reduction of copyright back to its original terms—14 years, renewable once. This should provide media firms plenty of chance to earn profits, and consumers plenty of opportunity to rip, mix, burn their back catalogues without breaking the law. The Supreme Court has somewhat reluctantly clipped the wings of copyright pirates; it is time for Congress to do the same to the copyright incumbents."

"Copyright was originally intended to encourage publication by granting publishers a temporary monopoly on works so they could earn a return on their investment."

Copyright was originally intended to protect the "creators and authors" from the publishers.

About Ruckus... They say they are legal. So did Grokster. So did Napster. But they don't say why.

Prideful...
Every time I see FASCIST, I stop reading your posts.

"Prideful...
Every time I see FASCIST, I stop reading your posts."

Why?

Maybe not relevant--so sue me. Luther Vandross dies at age 54.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/07/01/entertainment/main705947.shtml

Let's keep the rest in perspective.

As long we're off track anyway, it might be diversionary amusement to make a little list of words that kill or compromise posts or threads.
For starters, how about:
• FASCIST (like George said)
• Islamo-fascist
• pigopolists
• Nazi (cringe, what "law" just got invoked?)
•

Hmm, I'll pause here and pass the baton to someone else.

privacy invading searches equals a police state. And fascism is a police state isn't it??

I am using extreme words just to ensure that everyone wakes up and ensures are rights aren't trampled.

Shmoo has done the same thing. He had stated that corpoarte dictatorship was just around the corner when he made a comment about corporations having too much control over our government in an article about a hearing with congress on piracy of intellectual property. He had seriously emphasized that we the people must wake up before we end up in a state of corporate dictatorship.

I suppose maybe it's not exactly that, but rather the word fascist being used the wrong way when I should be using police state or corporate dictatorship??

High court decisions on cable, digital music will reson... --MarketWatch

I personally think they got it wrong.

KCRW Listeners Load Up on Podcasts Via iTunes --La Times

sandra day oconnor has retired from the supreme court, says corante.

www.corante.com/copyfight

I'd like to know weather she was a leftist or rightist judge. If she's leftist, we have just lost all cases to do with subsequent copyright issues because that F*** moron is going to appoint a judge.

I have to say that i was agnostic, but now i'm ready to become athiest since he above is now allowing that redneck nero to so permanently damage our nation.

Shmoo: that marketwatch thing makes me question the qualificaitons of their analists.

Where did they get their education in economics? their local elementary school's library? or maybe it was hustler magazine's margins somewhere.

rotfl... Alex, that is the best! "the qualificaitons of their analists."
Where's Carla?

Someone is still trying to revive her with smelling salts.

Poetic justice? I like the answer to the Supreme Court ruling that allows for the confiscation of peoples homes to benefit private business interests.....

"Weare, New Hampshire (PRWEB) Could a hotel be built on the land owned by Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter? A new ruling by the Supreme Court which was supported by Justice Souter himself itself might allow it. A private developer is seeking to use this very law to build a hotel on Souter's land.

Justice Souter's vote in the "Kelo vs. City of New London" decision allows city governments to take land from one private owner and give it to another if the government will generate greater tax revenue or other economic benefits when the land is developed by the new owner.

On Monday June 27, Logan Darrow Clements, faxed a request to Chip Meany the code enforcement officer of the Towne of Weare, New Hampshire seeking to start the application process to build a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road. This is the present location of Mr. Souter's home."

Read the rest at:

http://www.freestarmedia.com/hotellostliberty2.html

I think you'll find that it will bring a smile and a cheer

I hope that story is true!

For my part, it is likely that at any given session some of the nine judges that sit on their judicial 'thrones' will be inclined to abuse their tremendous unaccountable power. It's happened too many times.

I won't post a ton of links but instead point you to http://www.p2p-zone.com/underground/showthread.php?t=21715

It's a damned worthy read!

I especially liked the first one, DeadMan...

lol, here's a good one:

Electric shock clinic for internet addicts

I've got a nephew who fell asleep while driving home last week--because he stays up all night playing online games. I should check and see if there are any vacancies....

Deadman: excellent pieces in that thread.

I wish i could have their optimism, but the nixon era showed that the old guys are capable of winning if they can brainwash the young.

does "war on drugs" ring a bell?

More on oconnor:

oconnor was one of the 5 pro-sony votes in the 1984 betamax case.

She will be replaced with a bush appointee

in short: we're screwed for the next 3 decades.

very likely longer than that

awehr, O'Connor's decisions leaned more to the right. Ginsburg's (the other female justice) leans more to the left.

Not relevent, but I just want to share my happiness with the world !!!!HA AHA HA AHA http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20050702-9999-1n2duke.html

That's all for this edition folks! "In The News #46" will be up shortly!

More Grok
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/andrewkantor/2005-07-01-grokster-decision_x.htm

Good News: Fill Your PC With Music, Films & Shows for Nothing Bad News: It's Illegal & You Could Get Fined

http://www.rednova.com/news/technology/160836/freeloaders__good_news_fill_your_pc_with_music_films/

Excerpt

"But there are plenty who don't believe that file-sharing does any harm at all to the record industry.

Researchers at Harvard and the University of North Carolina found that it can actually boost legitimate music sales.

Their research revealed that for top-selling albums, every 150 downloads increased sales by one copy. Another survey by analysts Entertainment Media Research found that internet pirates bought 21 per cent more CDs than other internet users who didn't download illegally.

And the most recent sales figures - from the BPI itself - appear to support this view.

Last year the British CD albums market grew by 4.5 per cent, with sales hitting a record 174.6 million.

And early illegal download sites paved the way for legitimate online services such as iTunes and Napster. "

The greatest marketing show on Earth
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2005/07/02/cclive02.xml&menuId=242&sSheet=/money/2005/07/02/ixcoms.html